Burgundy producers

The Napoleonic laws of equal inheritance mean that vineyard ownership has slowly been divided again and again through the generations.

These days, few Burgundy producers own more than a few rows in any one village.

Burgundy’s top producers

Negociants, by contrast, buy grapes or wine from lots of different growers, allowing them to make wines in larger volumes.

To make matters more complex, some well-known growers will make wine from their own holdings as well as buying in grapes from elsewhere. Some domaines make both estate wines and negociant wines, under separate labels.

The Decanter Interview – Christophe Roumier